“Talk nicely?”
Lin Fengxia sneered, turned around and slapped Zhang Landi across the face. The blow made her ears ring; then came another strike that sent her staggering into the doorframe.
“What good act are you pretending now? Say one more word and I’ll smash this shovel on your head!”
Beaten and frightened, Zhang Landi clutched her cheek and didn’t dare speak again. Seeing Wang Dazhuang had already run into the yard, she didn’t care about anything else and stumbled out after him.
Crazy! This woman has really gone crazy!
Quick as lightning, Lin Fengxia rushed to the courtyard gate as the two ran out, shut it, and bolted it tight.
Ignoring Zhang Landi’s fake wailing outside, Lin Fengxia walked into the main room. Seeing the scattered brown sugar and wedding candies on the table, she opened her space and stored everything inside while Lin Laohan and Zhang Landi were gone.
Unexpectedly, Wang Dazhuang had been generous—inside the egg basket were two mao bills and silver dollars.
The moment the space closed, the gate was kicked open. Lin Laohan burst in from outside, holding a willow switch.
“You wretched girl! You dare rebel against me? You’ll marry whether you want to or not—I’m your father! Keep making trouble and I’ll beat you to death!”
Standing beside him, Zhang Landi clutched her reddened cheek and cried, “What kind of girl hits her own elders today and dares defy you tomorrow? If we don’t teach her a lesson, she’ll climb over your head!”
Lin Laohan’s face flushed red. The willow branch cracked loudly against the ground as he rushed toward Lin Fengxia.
Lin Fengxia turned, saw the iron scissors on the kang stove, grabbed them, and held them straight against her throat.
Her action froze both Lin Laohan and Zhang Landi in place.
“Come on! Push me again and I’ll slit my throat right here.”
“Then let’s see how you explain it to Wang Dazhuang! Just wait for him to kill you too!” She pressed the scissors harder and stepped forward. Her ferocious madness forced Lin Laohan backward step by step, the switch falling from his hand.
“We can all die together! Even as a ghost I won’t spare you—I’ll chew off your arms and ears!”
Her bloodshot eyes rushed toward him, frightening Lin Laohan into fleeing while muttering, “Crazy… she’s crazy!”
Yes. She had gone crazy long ago.
Back in her previous life, when she ran home with her last breath only to be shut out mercilessly, her heart had already died.
Now she only wanted to throw the Lin family into chaos and deny them peace.
After they finally left, Lin Fengxia put down the scissors, lifted the clay pot of grain, and stuffed everything into her space—half a bag of coarse flour, two eggs, a basket of wild vegetables…
In the east room, Zhang Landi shut the door, her cheek burning with pain and resentment.
“That Lin Fengxia used to be soft as dough—why has she suddenly gone insane? She doesn’t even care about her life!”
Seeing Lin Laohan silently smoking on the bed, she nudged him. “Think of something. We already accepted Wang Dazhuang’s betrothal gifts—we absolutely can’t return them.”
“Goudan isn’t young anymore. In a few years he’ll need to marry.”
Lin Laohan knocked his pipe on the ground. “Then what do you suggest? Actually force her to death?”
Zhang Landi’s eyes rolled twice before she leaned closer. “Let her make trouble for two days. When she lets her guard down, I’ll get some knockout drug from the village vet, feed it to her, strip her, and have Wang Dazhuang carry her back.”
“I don’t believe she can still resist once her body’s ruined!”
“Fine, we’ll do it your way!”
Unaware of their plan, Lin Fengxia continued rummaging in the kitchen.
After sweeping everything clean, she noticed the dying chick in the corner coop. Skin and bones, nearly featherless, its cry faint—yet its bright eyes stared at her.
Looking at it reminded her of her past self lying in the woodshed.
She picked it up with both hands and placed it into her space. The next second, the near-dead chick suddenly fluttered to its feet, its chirp louder.
Startled, Lin Fengxia thought of something and sprinkled some coarse flour in front of it.
The chick began eating.
After only a few bites, it visibly recovered at astonishing speed.
Within minutes it grew plumper, even slightly bigger, pecking affectionately around her.
“Could the space have other functions?”
Seeing the wild vegetables in the basket also look greener, she murmured, “Maybe everything inside stays fresh—and living things recover vitality! If so, it’s a treasure.”
If she could get seeds into the space, she might survive the famine!
Pressing her silver bracelet, she suppressed her excitement and became even more cautious.
Seeing the east room door closed, she crept to the window to eavesdrop. Several indecent sounds came out.
Disgusted, she headed to the backyard locust tree, picked up a hoe, and dug.
Soon a shallow pit revealed a wooden box buried under the roots.
She […], split the lock, and saw neatly stacked cloth coupons, meat coupons, and several shining silver dollars.
She curled her lips and put everything into the space.
This was Zhang Landi’s secret savings—she had seen her hide Wang Dazhuang’s silver dollars here in her previous life. Blood money from selling her—taking it was only right!
As evening fell, Zhang Landi came out to tidy today’s “bride price,” but froze upon entering the main room.
The egg basket was gone, and the cloth coupons once pressed beneath it had vanished.
Her heart skipped. She searched the clay pot, grain sack, even overturned the vegetable basket—every bit of food and valuables was gone!
Her first thought was Zhang Goudan.
He had done this more than once, but when questioned he insisted he hadn’t taken anything.
“If not Goudan, could that dead girl have taken it?” Zhang Landi frowned suspiciously.
The more she thought, the more certain she became. Acting crazy today—she must have stolen it all.
Her temples throbbed with anger as she grabbed Zhang Goudan’s arm and rushed toward the west room.
Before arriving, her shrill voice pierced the air: “Lin Fengxia, you jinx! You stole Goudan’s bride money, all the family’s meat and cloth coupons, plus the eggs and coarse flour! A motherless brat with sticky fingers—I’ll break your legs today!”